Three More Cyclones Earn Bids to NCAA's On Day 2 Of West Regional

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Six Iowa State student-athletes took the track at the NCAA Track and Field West Preliminaries, Friday, held at Arkansas' John McDonnell Field. Three more Cyclones earned bids to the NCAA Championships on Day 2 of the regional meet, bringing the program total to six over the first two days of competition.

Edward Kemboi notched the No. 1 overall mark in the field in the 800-meter run. The Eldoret, Kenya, native clocked a time of 1:47.40 in the race, notching his second sub-1:48 performance of the year.

Kemboi was poised and patientin the race, running on the shoulder of UCLA’s Nick Hartle until the two came around the final turn. The Cyclone junior passed Hartle on the final homestretch and broke the tape to earn the west region’s top overall mark.

Both Ejiro and Ese Okoro punched their tickets to Eugene, Oregon, to compete in the NCAA Championships this evening, as both finished in the top-three of their heats in their respective events.

Ejiro took third in her heat of the women’s 800m. She and the leaders eased across the finish line, as the top-three automatically qualify for the NCAA meet. At 2:04.96, the Birmingham, England, native notched her second sub-2:05 performance of the season.

Ejiro started towards the back of the pack, biding her time over the early parts of the race. As the race progressed, the Cyclone senior knocked off runners ahead of her en route to the third-place finish. Her time came in seventh overall in the event.

Ejiro’s twin sister Ese capped off the night for the Cyclones by earning a bid of her own to the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter hurdles. Ese took third in her heat, crossing the line in 57.45 seconds. The time is the third-fastest of her career and marks her sixth sub-58 of the season.

Derek Jones put on a strong showing on the men’s side of the 400m hurdles. Jones placed seventh in his heat with a time of 51.54 seconds, running the second-fastest time of his young career.

In the women’s 400-meter dash, Kendra White notched her third consecutive sub-53 second performance of the year, crossing the line in 53.90 seconds. White took fifth in her heat and was17th overall in the competition. Her career best, set in yesterday’s prelims, ranks fourth on Iowa State’s all-time top-10 list at 53.52 seconds.